Author Notes: Bloody Marys are a must at my family's holiday breakfast table, not only are they a great accompaniment to any number of dishes but also a little vodka before noon always makes the day feel special. The horseradish infused vodka is spicy and warms up any cold winter day. - NWB —NWB

Food52 Review: This is a classic Bloody Mary, with one very smart, feisty secret ingredient. NWB has you infuse your vodka overnight with dried chiles, black pepper and plenty of coarsely grated fresh horseradish. It takes all of 10 minutes to put together the night before and it's a step we may never skip again. It leaves a smooth, lingering heat in your throat and makes brunch that much more delightful. You can customize the booze level of each drink -- a 4:1 ratio of mixer to vodka worked well for the wimps among us, but feel free to crank it up. Note: This recipe makes more vodka than you need, so either double the mixer recipe (if you're serving a crowd), or -- oh well! -- you'll just have to have more Bloody Marys next weekend. - A&M —The Editors

Serves 8

Horseradish Vodka

1piece fresh horseradish root (enough for 1 cup coarsely grated)

1/4 cup whole peppercorns

1-3 whole dried chiles

Bloody Mary Mix

1 32 ounce bottle of low sodium V8

1tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1tablespoon Tabasco sauce

1-3tablespoons prepared horseradish

salt and pepper

lemon

celery seed

Old Bay

garnishes of choice: celery, pickled green beans, and lemon wedges

Grate 1 cup fresh horseradish on large holes of a box grater. This will be very fragrant. Add grated horseradish to 1 liter of vodka with the peppercorns and whole chiles. Let steep overnight (not longer!).

Strain vodka and put back in bottle. Taste the vodka for heat before adding horseradish to the Bloody Mary mix.

Pour 1/4 cup of V8 juice out of bottle into a cup. Mix Worcestershire, Tabasco, horseradish, salt, and pepper into the bottle of V8 and shake vigorously. If using immediately distribute the non-mixed V8 between the drinks.

This horseradish vodka is ridiculously good! I have made it a coule of times and always gets insane compliments on it. The mix is good too, although I usually just wing it on the mix, so not sure I followed the above mix recipe perfectly :)

Nice write-up! I am a big fan of Bloody Marys. You should try that one called LAVA (www.lavabmm.com). It's the best bloody mary mix, I think, since it tastes really good, not to mention, it uses whole non-gmo San Marzano tomatoes and is gluten free. =)

Love a good Bloody Mary! And very sorry to have to ask but what type or kind of dried chile should I buy? I'm in NE GA now and our grocery just doesn't stock 'gourmet ingredients!' They have a horseradish root but it always looks like it was dug up 2 yrs ago! But I am glad they have it!

I've been saving this recipe for months, and finally prepared everything tonight for Christmas brunch. Poured the vodka into a big canning jar and it's so pretty sitting on my window sill - all the white horseradish and red chiles is so festive. Can't wait to serve this.

I love this idea--one can never have enough horseradish! This will be my go to Sunday staple AND a perfect addition to the upcoming holiday mornings where an edge needs to be smoothed. Thank you and a belated congratualtions.

As long as you clean and trim the horseradish well I don't think it has to be peeled. You can also just cut a clean square out of the center with a knife to avoid the tedium of peeling or scrubbing the horseradish.

I can't tell you how long its been since I've had a good bloody mary, or how excited I am to know that my dry spell is about to end thanks to you and this great recipe. Congratulations on being a finalist....well deserved. - S